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Pine-Sol’s altered scent prompts flood of social media rage

It might be hard to believe that people can be extremely passionate about the cleanser they use to mop their floors, but a group of Pine-Sol fans angered by a recent scent change are proving their dedication.

Over the last few months, about 270 people have signed a Change.org petition urging Pine-Sol and its parent company, Clorox, to change the scent back. Many more have simply turned to commenting on Facebook to urge the company to change Pine-Sol’s smell back to what it was.

“2014 already is off to a bad start,” one commenter wrote. “BRING BACK MY PINESOL that smells like PINE that is why it's called PINE SOL. Thank you.”

Unfortunately, making a quick change isn’t that easy. In November, Pine-Sol posted this explanation for the scent change to its Facebook page:

To all of you who have asked us to bring back the original Pine-Sol scent, we want you to know we are listening. The reason we switched from the original scent was because of reduced supplies of pine oil. But our teams are working to find out if it’s possible to bring back the scent you love, at least in limited distribution. We will have more information soon. Thanks for speaking up.

About 200 people commented on that post, many of them still quite angry. One commenter asked why Clorox didn’t buy some land and start growing pine trees itself.

In the following weeks, Pine-Sol posted a video and a photo announcing that the original scent would be coming back in the spring of 2014, but only through an online store. The company’s Facebook page even has a dedicated tab about the old scent’s return, which includes a section for frequently asked questions.

Many commenters (quite forcefully) asked why the old scent wouldn’t be available in stores, so Pine-Sol offered this explanation in the FAQ:

We’ve decided to manufacture a limited supply of our original formula because we wanted to acknowledge the concerns voiced by a group of our long-time loyal fans and give them a way to still be able to purchase the product they love, even if it is no longer available in stores.

Will that satisfy this Change.org commenter, which Consumerist said really fits the bill of a loyal customer?

This whole world changes, nothing is perfect. EXCEPT ORIGINAL PINE-SOL! I DO NOT GET MAD EASY, THINGS HAPPEN FOR REASON, AND WE CAN’T CHANGE EVERYTHING. I’M 37 AND HAVE BEEN A FAITHFUL, ADDICTED CUSTOMER TO ORIGINAL SCENT PINE-SOL, I USE IT EVERYWHERE, FOR EVERYTHING…

I WILL FIGHT,THIS STUPID MOVE YOU GUYS DID TILL I’M TO [sic] OLD TO MOVE, THEN I’LL DIE, AND COMEBACK [sic] AND HAUNT YOUR ASS, AND KEEP FIGHTING FROM MY GRACE [sic].